We Do Not Fall
by neongreenleaves
Summary: It's sometimes hard to understand Sirius, Remus realizes. Perhaps... well perhaps he hadn't known the boy as much as he thought he had...(male/male, m for mature scenes and sexual content in future)
1. Chapter 1

We Do Not Fall

Summary: It's sometimes hard to understand Sirius, Remus realizes. Perhaps... well perhaps he hadn't known the boy as much as he thought he had... It obviously showed when lack of communication draws the both of them into an exaggerated fight, only succeeding in hurting them both and their friendship. Oh, Remus would make a thousand wishes to take everything back and fix it up, but he can't change it... not after this... (male/male, rated m for mature scenes and sexual content)

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

Chapter 1

-Prologue-

Remus twitched and turned away from the scene, finding it harder than he had thought. His hands clenched tightly and his face grew red with anger.

"So now you're fucking walking away! You fucking coward!"

Frozen, he felt his muscles tighten, the hot rage boiling underneath his skin, and spun to face the boy. He growled under his breath as he took a step, leering as he saw the fear spark in the older boy's eyes.

"Call me anything you want, you spoiled little shit, but one thing I am NOT is a COWARD."

His voice raised into a yell, causing the boy in front of him to flinch widely, a look of sudden shock and blatant hurt on the his face, and it tasted wonderful on Remus' tongue.

So, in a fit of confidence, Remus Lupin went on instinct, doing something so rash and _unthinkable_ as to swing his arm back and punch his former best friend, Sirius Black, in the face.

-A few weeks ago-

Remus jumped back in surprise when a quick blur brought him from staring out into space. His thoughts revolved around quietly in his head, the weather glooming over grey in the air.

'Quidditch.' He looked up as his two best friends shot through the sky, arguing loudly as they dodged another attack from the bludger, all in good nature for practice and staying fit in the cool air.

It did not, of course, stop Remus from wincing as he swore the ball caught the edge of James' broom.

"You guys better be careful, I'm gonna head back. I don't particularly want to get wet if it rains."

Sirius grinned down at him from somewhere above, shouting an agreement to meet later, and Remus smiled at their antics before he turned and walked away.

It's not that he didn't enjoy watching Quidditch practices; in fact he loved watching James and Sirius play as they normally got fairly competitive and started yelling creative insults at each other, but he didn't like the violence as much. Being a werewolf was brutal enough for him to deal with anyways.

The werewolf, in quick decision, stopped in the Great Hall for some food (perhaps a little late in the afternoon, but one could always go for a raspberry tart), and ran into a few classmates on the way, who discussed the most recent transfiguration homework. Something about turning beds into horses, rather very advanced magic.

He then, unfortunately – and in a way, most luckily- also ran into Peeves, who had been floating along looking for students to maim. The poltergeist jeered at the walls and murmured phrases under his ghostly breath, flicking something similar to a button at one small looking first year- who was hit in the head and looked rather worse for wear.

Remus hunched over, slipping past Peeves quietly. He hoped that he was not one that would be caught by the mischievousness of that thing.

He ran in the opposite direction, praying in his head that he would have a place to hide. At that moment however, his robe caught underneath his shoe and sent him sprawling to floor with a crash.

Peeves' head whipped around to the boy, raising a clawed hand, and sporting a hideous grin. "And what precious little human have we got here?" he drawled lazily, as Remus scrambled to get up.

"Leave me alone, for Merlin's sake…" Remus dusted off his knees, straightening up with a false pretense of confidence.

The poltergeist's smirk morphed into an angry look and the jab, and Remus had barely time to dodge the flying objects that came towards him in a rush.

He ran quickly, but that did not stop the assault of Peeves, and the boy soon felt a sticky smack in his hair…

'Ew.' Another one flew past Remus' left.

"Goddammit Peeves leave me alone!" he shouted, not taking a chance of looking behind him in fear that his face might get the worst of it. He needed a place to hide, and quick.

By chance it seemed, as he stumbled around a corner, Remus spotted a broom cupboard and dived in, thanking Hogwarts' building for the miracle.

The darkened room was quiet, excepting the boy's harsh pants from running, and the vague sound of the jeers and hollers outside the door.

It was then that the sticky thing in Remus' hair decided to fall to the group with a sickening plop, making the boy scrunch his nose unhappily about the slime.

He pulled lightly at the gunk in his hair. "Probably potion's ingredients…" he murmured to himself.

The goo stuck between his fingers, which was not something Remus preferred having, so he violently tried to shake it off, no matter how vehemently it denied to leave his hand.

So when he struck his hand against a nearby table, he cursed loudly.

If you passed at that moment in the halls, I'm sure you could have heard a string of 'fucks' and 'shit's.

After the throbbing went down a little, Remus grimaced before berating his mind for not thinking about using his wand.

He quietly muttered a cleaning spell on his palms, causing the sticky stuff to vanish, but his eyes wandered around in the dark.

It was a fairly small cupboard, holding only a small table and stool, and a few shelves hosting a bucket and broom and a bottle containing some unknown murky liquid. The walls were dank and tight, and rather uncomfortable for the werewolf, who shimmied around the stool that looked at if it needed a lot of repair before he could sit down. Remus wished the stool had been the chair from his common room.

He looked longingly at the wood.

Which, in a sudden burst, changed immediately into the red cushioned chair Remus had wanted.

In shock, Remus jumped back and stared at what _used _to be the broken wooden stool, but had obviously been replaced.

The boy stared at the cushions. Right… magic. Remus didn't know how the chair had been changed, as normally it required an actual spell from transfiguration. And, normally with transfiguration, it wouldn't create an exact replica of what he had been thinking, even down to the smallest detail of the musty bread smell that had always accompanied the furniture. He acknowledged that the chair wasn't the chair from his common room, as moving it would have been apparition in a way, and that was something most definitely not allowed inside of Hogwarts.

Remus frowned as a faint prickling of a headache began in his temples.

"It's... mimicking the Gryffindor common room...?" He scratched the back of his neck in question, glancing around the rest of the cupboard that had not obviously changed size or color in any other way. 'That rules out the mimicking, then.'

The dark walls of the cupboard felt suffocating as Remus pondered why it was just the chair, and he found himself wishing for a bit more space and comfort.

The room, in a flash that rather blinded the werewolf for a moment, morphed again quickly and suddenly, just as it had for the chair.

He blinked. Furnished wood and red wallpaper now adorned the walls, now spacious and around the size of the dorm room, which now held two plush dark red couches and a small table with a lantern on top. A fireplace to the left of Remus quietly flickered, drawing his eyes to the flame in mental confusion.

What was this room? Would it give him whatever he wanted?

Remus sat down carefully on the sofa closest to him and closed his eyes as he relaxed and leaned back. There was no need to panic, or get woozy. He was obviously in no danger, or so he tried to convince himself of. His rapid heartbeat coursed through him, and he felt hot.

The boy shifted quietly, taking a breath in to try and steady himself and figure out what the situation was.

If what he had been thinking of, that the room would give him anything he wanted, then he could wish for something at that moment and he would receive it.

Remus paused to grin and lick his lips at the easy choice of what to get. 'Chocolate cake! Definitely chocolate cake.'

He squeezed his eyes tightly and tried to imagine the most perfect cake, and then opened them.

To nothing, of course. Everyone knew that the rules of magic included not being able to conjure food out of nowhere. But Remus still felt slightly disappointed after envisioning a wonderful chocolate cake.

It was fine though, after he remembered his raspberry tart, and began to nibble on it.

'Obviously it is a magic room, as it is in Hogwarts after all, and has to obey the basic fundamental rules of magic. It is to be expected.'

Remus licked his fingers and stretched.

If not food, what else could the room get him? It took him a few moments to think it over. "Books on transfiguration of large animals" he said to the room. "For class, of course."

After another moment, he added "nice writing quills would be cool as well." ('Another downside to being a werewolf,' Remus thought, remembering the fact that his strength would always snap them whenever he would have fits of frustration.)

He paused.

"Information on werewolves?" He quietly ended it on a question, hesitantly. "Or maybe books on making a werewolf's life easier?"

He let himself have a small grin with the list he spoken out loud. He finished it off with a vague topic, this time in his head.

'A bunch of stuff that's been lost?"

Thousands of things slammed onto his lap and all around him at once.

It hurt, quite a lot. Especially on his groin, which Remus whimpered slightly as it was hit very badly by… a heavy shampoo bottle? Filled, of course, to Remus' chagrin.

Remus groaned faintly as he pushed the stuff off his lap and looked around him. Everything was everywhere, on shelves, on couches and the chair and floor.

He crinkled his nose in disgust as he pushed off what he thought was probably a chewed up stick that landed in the sofa with him. Why that was there, he could only suspect.

When he realized that there were now shelves, the room expanded a little to give him more room to walk around the many piles of random things. Books upon books were lined there, all titled something to do with werewolves, at least from what Remus could tell.

He cracked his knuckles as he shuffled around the piles, following where his eyes led to all the books adorning the old wood. His fingers grazed the spines across the dusty brown, black, and blue books. It was an arrangement of many fine novels and informational things. Leather, cloth, dragon scales, and felt met his fingertips, and Remus grabbed a larger book off the shelf curiously.

The smell of molten leaves, sweet but a little odd, came to his sense as he read the title, 'The Moon Cycle', and opened the book to see small words written in ink.

He put it back, as the words swirled and reminded him of his headache and grabbed a newer one.

"Mated to a Werewolf…" Remus stuttered slightly, feeling his face warm up a little as he opened the book up to diagrams and pictures of paired males and females, and to his slight surprise, paired mates of the same sexes.

The book ended up on the chair, but Remus pushed the pictures to the back in his head and continued to browse the titles, wishing that the room would give him a little more of a specific type of book. Like things that would make the transformation easier, or even better- stop them.

Soon enough, the room changed with his thoughts, and a few of the shelves disappeared, leaving the rest to arrange themselves to fill the gaps. The ones that had been left displayed books that Remus glanced over briefly, before he started grabbing ones that caught his interest, and setting them down with the other book on the red chair. When the pile grew to seven or eight, Remus stopped his searching, happy with his finds, and looked at the piles on the floor and couches. He sat down gingerly on the couch after he made some room by pushing some more miscellaneous stuff aside.

"Perhaps it should be just the stuff my friends and I have lost?" Remus quietly asked the room.

As a response of sorts, the piles lessened some, and the boy nodded vaguely to himself as he started picking out certain things, and sorted them into what he knew of and what he didn't. The largest (and still growing) mountain was of Sirius' socks, and boxers, that of which left Remus grinning at, and finding himself trying to fight the urge to laugh at.

'Who knew he lost so much in just a few years,' Remus thought after picking up a, thankfully clean, pair of yellow boxer shorts with brooms on them.

He threw it on the pile as he noted to himself how small they were. Sirius probably lost them in first or second year, judging by the horribly written name on the inside tag.

His hands were reaching for the next thing beside him, a small note, when a glint caught his eye next to his foot, and he felt around, procuring a small rounded object. Remus rolled it around in his hand, the coolness of the glass feeling nice against his rough calluses.

Strange. Strange to find a lone muggle marble in the things that they had lost.

The werewolf, slowly lying back against the cushions, held it up in front of his eyes, staring through the glass as the light flickered through it in an array of greens and blues and greys. The reflections of the room danced on the round marble, and Remus smiled as he rotated it between his fingers lightly. The light greys and bright blues appealed most to him, rather than the bright orange glow from the fire which burned dangerously, as well as quietly and calmly in the fireplace.

He looked at the stone for a second, remembering his task, and set it down carefully next to him in a pile with objects that Remus had owned. It rolled slightly on the old fairytale book that Remus looked fondly at, remembering the gift for his twelfth birthday, and then on a graded essay with full marks, and landed next to Gryffindor tie.

There was also an odd necklace laying a bit farther off at the end of the table that Remus eyed with curiosity and bent to pick up, and was positive he didn't own, nor had he seen before, but he thought it absolutely beautiful as he drew it closer in his grasp. It was a short necklace, similar to a choker, he noticed, with smaller black beads surrounding a round pendant that sparkled in the low light of the room.

Remus drew his finger over it, his mind hazily reporting to him that it was most likely made of opal, defined by the hazy white shine and speckles of blues and greens and oranges. He slipped it on, clasping the back and settling it underneath his shirt.

With the chilled pendant resting on his sternum, he moved onto the stack of what he had yet to look through, and felt a warm feeling of satisfaction of wearing something so gorgeous.

_Feel free to leave a review, I'd be always happy to receive input or critique on what you like or what I should work more on!_


	2. Chapter 2

We Do Not Fall

Summary: It's sometimes hard to understand Sirius, Remus realizes. Perhaps... well perhaps he hadn't known the boy as much as he thought he had... It obviously showed when lack of communication draws the both of them into an exaggerated fight, only succeeding in hurting them both and their friendship. Oh, Remus would make a thousand wishes to take everything back and fix it up, but he can't change it... not after this... (male/male, rated m for mature scenes and sexual content)

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

Chapter 2

When Remus yawned tiredly from his spot on the couch, the pops in his back and legs told him he had been sitting too long,. He blinked blearily, flicking his wand to check exactly how much time passed.

"Two hours…" he muttered to the room, his mouth widening in a second yawn.

He pulled up his bag that he had found in the bottom of the pile and stuffed his findings in, or at least, the ones he felt he ought to take with him.

The marble, too small to be put in a bag of large things, was put into his pocket and lay coolly against the boy's thigh.

Smacking his lips, he strung the bag over his right shoulder and the rest of the stuff strewn around the room vanished one by one until all that was left were the walls, and Remus.

'My day was probably a lot more productive…' he thought as he left the room, referring to his two friends that had been practicing earlier. 'I should probably show them what I found… they might actually like to go through it all…"

As he went down the staircases, Remus pondered the new room and the things he possessed; he lightly patted his pocket in assurance that the marble was still there. Odd that he would be attached to it, compared to everything else he had now.

"Pumpkin shards," Remus announced to the portrait he stopped in front of, not giving the lady a chance to even ask for the password. His heart jumped in excitement as he walked into the common room.

Suddenly, however, something smashed into his chest, and he felt squashed and uncomfortable.

"Remus!" a voice cried in his ear, and the boy winced at the pitch.

"Dude you have no idea what prongs did at the pitch! He did this one move and looked so stupid…"

Sirius laughed as he manhandled the poor werewolf, who was looking a little worse for wear, and drug him to the Gryffindor couch (that Remus inspected for a moment to make sure it definitely wasn't the one he just was on). He talked animatedly as Remus tuned him out slightly, instead choosing to look around the room and cast a small tempus charm. Perhaps he should wait until Sirius calmed down a little to tell them the news.

James sat on the red chair, as he had noticed, that was completely identical to the one in the room. But it wasn't the chair, as it was a copy. Or rather, the one in the room was a copy.

Remus felt his cheeks turn up and had to fight the urge to giggle at the confusion in his own thoughts.

"… and he fell on his ass and his pants split too… and…." Sirius paused in his rant. "Hey, what'cha smiling for? …Moony?"

The young man felt a chilly hand pat his cheeks, and shake his head slightly. "Oh. Oh yeah, I'm listening."

Sirius raised an eyebrow at the suspiciously distracted tone, and refused to keep talking.

Here was his chance! Remus opened his mouth to tell Sirius about the room he had found, but then felt as if it wasn't quite as important to the others. He decided against it. His reason was his own for the moment, that it should be kept a secret until the room would serve a good purpose to the other three boys.

"Ah I just… eh." Remus shrugged at Sirius who looked at him oddly.

"Why're you out so late anyways? Ah! Finally got a bird?" Sirius laughed loudly in exclamation, leaving the young werewolf to roll his eyes and bat away the hands that were still on him.

"Fat chance Sirius," he scoffed at the boy, who just laughed some more in response.

"Oi, you're good looking enough."

Sirius gripped the boy's cloak and turned him around in his hands after tugging him off his seat. He looked him over quickly, "I mean, you're a little thin and snarky, and a little girly with your long hair," at this, Sirius gestured at Remus' hair and poked his head. "You need a haircut soon. And you always wear these sweat…ers…" Sirius trailed off until his voice was silent, and he stared at the other boy's neckline.

Remus glanced down and drew the necklace out, the pendant bouncing off the light of the fire. "Oh, this? I found this… uh… in the hallway?" Remus winced at his terrible lie, cursing his speaking skills.

The genuine question didn't seem to reach him, so he stared at the boy some more, who was steadily growing more pale.

But as a few moments passed, Remus began to feel a little claustrophobic as Sirius was so close. "Sirius?" Remus snapped his fingers at him."Sirius? Hey… Padfoot?"

Sirius jumped slightly and looked up. "Ah…" He left his mouth open, looking confused at the werewolf with an obvious indication that he knew a blatant lie when he heard one.

Remus frowned and wanted to turn his head away, but stopped as his eyes caught the other boys' grey ones.

'Like the marble…' Remus thought hazily, dropping his hand into his pocket where the glass lay. "Grey…"

Sirius' brow furrowed, but he broke the stare as he looked away and mumbled something under his breath.

The werewolf, slightly uncomfortable as the boy hadn't moved from his spot, swallowed roughly. "You have to speak up, I can't hear you."

The dark haired boy struggled a little before he could look back towards Remus, and opened his mouth. "Yeah that... that was mine."

Sirius shoved Remus back slightly, walking briskly to the boy's dorm entrance.

"What do you mean was?"

Sirius paused at the first step but didn't look behind him as he called back harshly, "Forget it." And then he was gone up the staircase, leaving Remus behind.

He settled down, thinking about the whole awkward encounter, right next to the fire quietly. It warmed his shins as he lifted them onto the wooden table, and pulled out the lone marble from his pocket. He mulled over the necklace and everything else he had brought with him.

His thoughts were quickly interrupted in the quiet, though, as after a minute or two Remus heard people move into the common room. It bugged him slightly that they weren't being the slightest bit quiet, but that was the nature of his classmates. They boisterously laughed as they discussed something that had happened over dinner.

Remus felt a grumble in his stomach. 'I guess pastries really weren't enough...' He brushed his pants off and stood to go put his stuff away.

He passed the loud group, and returned a wave politely as he followed the same path Sirius had into the room.

'Had anyone walked in earlier, surely they would have suspected something….' Remus felt a shiver up his spine, and quickly stopped his train of thought. 'It wasn't anything.' He shook his head as he walked up the stairs and into the boy's dorm, where he stuffed his bag under his bed and turned his eyes towards the other ones, where the curtains inevitably were shut and the clothes hung unfolded.

Huffing quietly, the werewolf mumbled to himself, however he could not stop the nagging feeling of worry that maybe he had made Sirius feel uncomfortable somehow, enough that he ran up here and holed himself away.

But Sirius was the one who got a little too close, not him…

The thoughts confused him, so he banished them for the moment and focused at the task at hand, which was putting his stuff away and eyeing the sweaty clothing in disgust that draped the boy's bed. 'I really wish he would put those away though.'

Remus, you see, always preferred keeping his stuff folded and tucked away in the old wooden drawers next to his bed. Then again, he didn't have as much as Sirius ever owned.

The werewolf pursed his lips as he frowned at the old red curtains hiding the other boy away.

"Y'know, dinners ready so I'm going to head down, you coming?"

Sirius, who knew Remus could hear him, mumbled in reply from inside the covers. "Yeah yeah, I'll see you down there later. M'not hungry right now."

Remus stood for a moment. Not hungry? What a peculiar thing to say. But he'd leave anyway, as perhaps he'd run into Peter or James.

He stepped out of the room, and down the stairs to the common room that was a little more crowded than before. He passed a few Hufflepuffs outside Gryffindor dorm, and nodded to them as they giggled and scurried away.

They probably were looking for James, as always. Flirting with him was their specialty before dinner, however little of a chance of a date they could get. They tried their best, so Remus grinned and gave them some credit for their attempts.

Especially when they went the extra mile to dress up pretty and put perfume on.

Remus caught a whiff of it as they left, girly and strong. And extremely sweet.

'That was a bit too much,' he admitted to himself as he cringed through the cloud of scents.

'It's far too flowery and weird', continued Remus, 'nothing like the chocolate I like or the scent of parchment and grass.' Those were enjoyable things in life, some of the best.

Remus pondered the notion of cake next, delicious cake - he was a sweet tooth after all so you couldn't have possibly blamed him- when he ran into, quite literally, Lily.

"Oh Remus! Sorry I didn't see you there!"

"It's fine, I wasn't really paying attention." Remus smiled down at the bustling girl, who was busy shoving a book and a few parchments away in her backpack. She looked up at him after a moment, smiling back lightly, and started walking beside the boy.

"Do you want to eat together today? I don't see your friends around and mine are out doing god knows what."

"Sure. Sirius is in bed at the moment, and I don't really know where James went. Peter's probably already down in the hall."

"Oh, is he sick?"

"Sirius?"

Lily nodded, and Remus shook his head in reply, settling down in an empty space. "Nah, he said he's just not hungry."

Lily frowned a little and turned to sit down at the table they arrived at. "Not hungry…"

Remus just hummed and grabbed a chicken wing as the girl went silent. He munched happily on the meat as Lily looked thoughtfully at her plate. "He never misses dinner though. Where'd you say James was?"

Remus swallowed and picked up a forkful of rice, "Ah, he and Sirius were out playing Quidditch earlier again, but Sirius came back without James. So I'd say hes still out there or in the bathrooms."

Lily nodded in acceptance and started eating as well, filling her plate up with a couple of pancakes and a biscuit. She had grabbed the syrup when the Great Hall began to fill with more students, and it got much louder. However, there were no signs still of either James, Sirius, or Peter.

Remus, needless to say, was beginning to question their absence. "perhaps Sirius might actually be a little sick…?"

Lily smiled up at him, her fork hovering near her mouth. "Why don't you bring him some food?"

Remus thought of it, and looked down at the table absentmindedly. "Maybe not strong stuff like this. I'll stop by the kitchens I think."

Lily said her goodbyes as Remus got up slowly and walked away from his spot at the table. It was a little ways away from the Great hall, the kitchens, that is, but he found himself standing in front of the painting in no time, due to having no thoughts in his head at that moment. He tickled the pear and hopped through the wall, which led him to the hot room that was full of short elves dashing about, precariously carrying dishes of meals. A peculiar small one startled him as it dodged between Remus' legs carrying a plate of fish. In the corner of the room towards the back, Remus sat down away from the steam and magic, where a small table and a set of chairs was located. Soon enough, interrupting the silence back there, a wrinkly elf came up to him to ask him what he wanted.

Remus stared at the creature warily, then thought for a moment before deciding on a few biscuits, butter, and jam, and threw in a few cookies for his own benefit and another chicken wing.

The elf almost got away, but not before Remus called out, "Make that two wings, actually!"

It left Remus to sit alone at his table, chewing on one chicken wing with the cookies beside him, waiting for the rest of the food to return. He tapped his foot patiently against the leg of the chair as he licked his lips and stared at the wall beside him. Knifes, bowls, and plates lined shelves of old wood in a cupboard towards the left, which reminded the boy faintly of the room he had discovered the other day, and which he knew he should tell his friends about.

Remus felt a little guilty for a moment. 'It shouldn't matter too much. They wouldn't _really_care about some dodgy old room, anyways.' Even he doubted his own thoughts though, swallowing a particular chewy part of the wing. 'It's not as if I found anything really interesting... well... maybe except...' He felt the weight of the necklace upon his collar, the pressure soothing in a way.

Remus grazed his fingers over the opal pendant, the sleekness meeting his rough fingertips that had been painted will a long time's worth of parchment ink. His friends often picked fun at him for that, saying that obviously his studying left more marks on him than changing into a werewolf ever would.

'Am I really that scarred?' He frowned down at the cookies at the table.

'If I am, I shouldn't be wearing something so beautiful...' Remus felt a pang in his chest at the realization that anyone... anyone who would wear this necklace would have to be gorgeous. He was not. He was not beautiful.

'Maybe beautiful isn't the right word though, that really only pertains to women, right?' He dropped his hands from the pendant onto the table, and clenched his fist tightly. He was obviously not a woman.

Which reminded him, didn't Sirius call him girly? Remus tilted his head as he stared at his inked hands.

Surely Sirius was just joking, he wasn't really girly…

Remus paused to sniff his sweater, analyzing what he smelled like. He definitely didn't smell like those girls. A little chocolately, and slightly of cotton and soap. So pleasant, not sparkly and sweet, but rather soothing.

But… perhaps it was not very manly then. Manly was, say, Sirius' or James' cologne. Thought not as strongly put on, it smelled good and spicy. Very manly.

Remus was interrupted briefly by the elf from before, who gathered his dirtied dishes and scurried off among the others. Brushing his pants, he stood up. Maybe he wasn't completely manly no, but he was still a man. He had the mentality and the parts, which he wouldn't ever give up willingly. Remus nodded to himself as he wiped off his mouth exited the kitchens with some extra food in hand for the sick boy. It was much quieter outside that room, proving that everyone was mostly at the hall, and he was pretty much alone.

So much alone that even the common room was unsurprisingly very empty, not counting the two first years huddled in the corner underneath a blanket discussing something between themselves. Remus looked at them longingly for a second, but they didn't notice him, and he trudged up the stairs past them, and into the rooms.

He opened the door cautiously, just in case. Sirius, buried under his covers still, had a magazine in hand, but turned to look at the boy who entered, and obviously noticed the food in his hands.

"What's that for?"

"Oh… uh, this is dinner. For you at least. Everyone else is eating down in the Great Hall." Remus set the plate down on the beside drawers next to Sirius. "I thought you might get hungry later or something since you didn't show up."

"What about you?" Sirius thanked him under his breath after the question, grabbing one of the smaller scones with jam.

"I ate in the kitchens."

Sirius nodded in affirmation, then proceeded to continue to to read the magazine. He didn't say anything more as Remus went to his own bedside, thinking about all the crumbs that would be in Sirius' bed. He flopped down on his covers, suddenly feeling very exhausted, pondering over what to do for the rest of the night. The only thing that came to mind was briefly the thought of doing homework that for once didn't appeal too much to him. Instead, his mind drifted over to the books hiding away under his bed.

Surely no one would question him about them, he was always at the library and read a lot. And only Sirius was here. And he – Remus glanced over to the boy- was preoccupied reading what appeared to be a magazine… With…

Remus looked away, flustered, after his eyes caught the busty girl on the front cover, scantily clad in a bikini. He fought down the heat in his cheeks by preoccupying himself with rummaging for one of the books until he managed to pick one up with the title 'Mated to a Werewolf.' The book was good enough, and Remus agreed with himself that now would probably be a good time as any to read it. Flicking his wand, the drapes closed themselves around him and he sat back gingerly against he headboard, lying against some stacked pillows.

He fingers flipped past the first page and skimmed the table of contents. Remus passed the information on actual mating, as what he guessed was the 'How To', and went over briefly an article of a mated pair, one werewolf, one not.

_'…the couple lived in rural Ireland, a house paired well with the two of them. When asked how they dealt with the monthly changes of Raphael, Torus explained that outside, about a block away they had built a small cabin for Raphael. It had all the necessary things, and was safe enough that Raphael wouldn't get hurt in, nor hurt anyone else._

_As a reporter, I visited the cabin, and I say it was very put together. Filled with cleaning agents, aid kits, and barred walls, it seems that the two men are very well prepared for anything. I admire their skills of working together to deal with this curse, and I told them that._

_When interviewing Raphael himself though, it gave me more insight than I could ever have hoped for into the lives of a werewolf and their changes._

_"Every month was terrible before I met Torus," stated Raphael. "It hurt to change and I gave myself so many scars from tearing myself apart. But when he committed himself to me fully, and agreed to be my mate, everything changed." I was informed briefly on the idea that as mates, Raphael would refrain from hurting anyone, and the change was much easier on him. Torus had become an animagus for him, which provided him company even through the loneliness of the nights. The two of them really are the perfect pair._

_When asked how they felt about the prejudices about homosexuals, both answered that they knew that the relationship was right, and no one could judge them for loving another. As I report to my readers this story, all I can say is that I agree._

_Torus and Raphael are a mated pair to admire, most definitely.'_

Remus blinked at the picture underneath the article, the two men kissing happily while wrapped around each other. They swayed slightly in the moving photo, their torsos bare, which clued in Remus to realize the fact that they were both very, very nude.

Remus felt his face flush quickly, his eyes not leaving the photo as he studied it in the quiet of his bed. It was obvious the two were engaging in something hardly appropriate for school, but it wasn't bothering him. In fact, Remus shivered as the two faced the camera, faced him, and one- Raphael, maybe- moved behind Torus. His eyes followed Torus' chest, as the man behind the other drew his lips down his neck. The muscles in their hips moved slightly to bend and gyrate against one another.

Remus felt his breath leave his lungs, as his fingers tingled and his face burned as he stared down at the book. His blood starting to heat up everywhere in response to the picture, and he felt suddenly very, very hot, so very tempted to take off his shirt and... just…

The sound of footfalls jerked Remus out of his reading… and he took a few breaths to calm himself and subside his flushed cheeks, before moving the curtain aside to see if either James or Peter had finally come in.

Instead, as Remus choked, he was met with Sirius clad in low pajama bottoms, and toweling his hair off. His abdomen moved slightly with the motions of his arms, and a trail of hair drew Remus down to the cloth in the front.

Remus squeezed his eyes shut, refusing the urge to look any further down, the picture of the two mates still at the forefront of his mind.

He heard Sirius cough slightly, and he flashed his eyes quickly over to the boy's face to see him grinning cheekily down.

"Oi, you alright there?" Sirius' grin widened at the image of Remus attempted to speak. "Well I know I am quite hot. You're pretty lucky to see me all wet and nake- Hey!"

Remus grumbled after he shook himself slightly and turned away, glad he could snap himself out of the moment by tossing a pillow at the boy's face.

Sirius plucked the endangered pillow off and laughed quietly at the other. "No need to go around throwing things, y'know I'm just messin' with you."

As Sirius turned back into his bed, Remus frowned at his covers.

It was just a joke… Yeah.

He doesn't even like guys, it's just that…

The picture got too much into his head.

Remus let out a shaky breath and tried to get rid of the plaguing picture in his mind of the two mated men in the book, rubbing against each other in pleasure.

It's just a book, that's it. It's a book…

He fell asleep lying on the covers, not bothering to pull them up, with the book hidden sloppily underneath his pillow.

_Hope you guys enjoyed, and sorry for the wait! Leave a review if you'd like, as I could always use input on whatcha guys think._


	3. Chapter 3

We do not fall

Summary: It's sometimes hard to understand Sirius, Remus realizes. Perhaps... well perhaps he hadn't known the boy as much as he thought he had... It obviously showed when lack of communication draws the both of them into an exaggerated fight, only succeeding in hurting them both and their friendship. Oh, Remus would make a thousand wishes to take everything back and fix it up, but he can't change it... not after this... (male/male, rated m for mature scenes and sexual content)

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

Chapter 3:_  
_

It was like a hot, burning twist on his hips as Remus jolted where he lay. Hands moved down quickly, grabbing his legs and bending them, leaving the boy feeling open, but far too warm for his liking. Lips smashed down on his, and the werewolf moaned, grabbing at the waist above him that just barely touched his own chest. He felt the body above his tense up before the boy above him pushed his hips into Remus, hardness pressed against his own and gods, Remus couldn't breathe.

He broke away from the faceless boys' lips to tilt his head to the side and flip their positions so he was on top. Remus snatched the other's wrists and pinned them over his head, and thrust roughly against him over and over. The other boy moaned loudly, his legs wrapping around Remus' so the boy could move faster.

Remus felt slick against the boy's member, and hissed as he felt him twitch and push back, the jolts of pleasure increasing quickly, along with the harsh damp breathing that came from both of them.

The boy underneath him groaned as Remus adjusted slightly, nudging the boy's face to the side to give a bite to his neck, his hips slid against the other's faster. Remus shuddered and grunted as he pulled himself up, the feeling of pulsing signaling he was close. The other boy was not far beyond, and as the werewolf grappled at the boy's waist to move him in sync with his own quick thrusts, the boy cried out, tensing hard as he came. Remus broke as he watched his own hardness slide over the other's, pulsing and dripping, and he slammed against the boy, losing control over to the heat that overtook him.

And then he felt heavy, and his face felt hot. His heart beat quickly in anticipation. It was dark, and Remus' eyes flickered open. It took a few moments to register reality against dreams, and the he looked down briefly to the kicked down sheets and the darkness that tented his own boxers. It wasn't difficult to tell now.

Remus groaned quietly, wiping a hand over his brow.

He quickly drew it back and grimaced, however, as it was hot and damp. Swallowing, he grasped the sheets he had shoved to the end of his bed, and drew them back over him as he sat up against his headboard.

_It's too warm. Too uncomfortable. _Remus glared down at his crotch. _That doesn't help either._

He huffed as his breathing calmed down enough to be quiet, and stared at the far curtain near his feet.

_I just hope I didn't make enough sound to wake them up... that dream was..._ His heart sped up a little as images, of being naked and moving hotly and passionately against another man, entered his mind. He ground his teeth as a pulse went through him, making his blood heat up, and more noticeably, his own crotch twitched under the covers.

_Fuck it's too much! I can't think properly with being this hard! _

Remus drew up the covers and moved his hand quickly under his boxers, taking a hold of his member. It was slick and heavy in his hand, and his fingers slid quickly over his shaft, squeezing as he simply just worked into getting off. It wasn't long before his legs tensed, and the feeling in his gut crashed back into him.

He released it, using a muttered spell to clean it up, and let himself drift away with the heavy blankness left behind, purposefully ignoring the thought that perhaps he wasn't as straight as he thought.

oooooooooooooooo

The next morning was gray and slow, with many of the students have asleep while eating what they had on their plates. They yawned, piling food such as pancakes, or corn, or toast and jam, where they sat. It was a fairly quiet setting, the sky in the Great Hall taking upon the image of the clouds that completely covered up the view of the sun, and a few birds that had chosen to fly over Hogwarts. Inside, the kids muttered between themselves, of which there was a decent amount, leaving open spaces on the benches every so often. A few bags lay on the floor, next to cloaks and ties that had been left off for the moment.

On a farther side of the Gryffindor table sat the group of marauders. James at that moment had taken to chattering away about his girlfriend Lily, leaving Sirius, Remus, and Peter to quietly munch away at their choice of eggs and sausage. They were too hungry, plus a little too tired, to really pay any attention to what James was saying, however honestly, but who could blame them.

Remus was especially exhausted from last night, and could only think in worried broken sentences and small bouts of information that reminded him of the plans he had today - which were few, thankfully.

_Coffee..._ Remus grabbed at a steaming kettle and poured himself a full cup, only taking a small moment to add a little cream and a sugar before stirring it and all but chugging it down. He settled it down in front of him next to the morning paper, with the latest news, and admitted to himself he could barely focus on that as well. It most likely read a similar thing that had been happening far too often for any ones liking, that is another attack on someone out in the country. It made Remus feel uneasy as he lifted his knife to cut at the sausage in front of him. But gladly it wasn't awfully close to Hogwarts to pose as an entirely large threat.

The boy rubbed his eyes unhappily, staring down unseeing unto his breakfast plate and he ate the food mechanically.

" …on't you think?" Remus jolted and blinked quickly as James turned to him. _Right, James was talking to me wasn't he..._ Remus gave a sheepish smile at his friend, feeling slightly guilty at not paying attention, but nodded and hummed lightly, falsely appearing to be interested in whatever James had been saying before.

"Great! I'll see you in the common room in a few then!" James hopped up off his seat, swinging his bag over his shoulder as he called to Remus, and sprinted to the door.

_Wait… what?_ Remus lifted his head a little higher, confused. "What did he want me to do?"

Sirius looked up at the question in surprise, before stuffing his mouth with a forkful of food and shrugging lightly at Remus. Remus, in turn, stared at the boy with even more confusion as he scrambled to gather up his things and leave.

And awkward silence followed, as well as the question of what just happened right there. Remus, who furrowed his brow and felt as if he missed something big, looked at Peter who had been watching the ordeal go down.

The boy was shoving his face with potatoes, so the werewolf thought better of asking for his opinion. Instead, he looked back to Sirius, who was just briskly walking out of the doors.

Suddenly, Remus was shoved forward as something hit the back of his head. He turned in his spot to spit out a response, but found the Slytherin over him, so he just frowned. Snape looked back in disgust, slightly disappointed at the lack of response, his mouth twisting into a sneer.

"Don't stare Lupin, someone might get the wrong idea."

Remus' eyes widened at the comment. _Wrong idea? Oh god the dream... does... does it show on my face or something?!_

Snape shoved past him, not bothering to look back as his friends trailed behind him and laughed loudly.

_Why did they say that? Did something change? _Remus felt his face flush in anger and embarrassment and he shook, startled at the prospect that something was so very different now. _God I feel sick... I'm just glad Sirius and James aren't here... Who knows what they would have said after that..._

Remus put his elbows on the table and covered his face with his hands. _How stupid am I, my reactions were awful. I should have said something back to defend myself. James and Sirius would have done that. _

Remus smiled a little to himself. _Yeah they probably would have defended my honor, what a joke. _He snickered quietly then, dropping his hands from his face back onto the table, fiddling with the now cold half-full cup of coffee that was left alone earlier.

"Well… I'm done eating," he said after a little bit, picked up his bag and turned back to Peter. "How about you?" He took a breath and waited, hoping that what had just happened would completely slip Peter's mind.

The boy chewed and swallowed before putting more food on his plate, and the werewolf took that as his cue to leave as the boy was definitely still not done. And he did so, only pausing once to look at the small figure of the rat animagus.

The halls were bare once more, only a few students roaming the staircases. Remus passed a few portraits that jeered at each other, and sat around blankly and boredly. It wasn't long before he arrived at the common room, muttering the password absentmindedly and stepping through.

Across the room, Sirius was frozen and stared at him. He wore an unreadable expression.

"What's up?" Remus eventually said, lounging down on the chairs. He would ignore the weird way Sirius was acting for now.

Who, at that moment as Remus glanced towards him, refused to meet his eyes and instead strode out the door. James was no better.

_God what is with these two right now._ Remus raised his eyebrows at James and cleared his throat, breaking James out of his reverie. "Something I can help you with? You called me here after all."

James drew his eyes up from Remus' neck, something the boy didn't forget to note down, and nodded. "Ah... ah right! Yeah!" James grinned and lifted up a hand to draw something out of his pocket and sat across from Remus. "We have plans, my dear friend. And us gentleman are in desperate need of your lovely assistance if you do not mind."

Remus snorted and shook his head. "What prank is happening now?"

"Good question Moony, my love!" James dramatically rolled out the parchment in front of him and gestured to the slightly smeared ink. "Alas, there exceeds the normal problems of this task, one could say that we do not have the ability to ... uh... research as well as thine lovely mind can. It is here," James gestured to a list of affects, "that we do not know where to find a potion that creates such beauty and chaos!"

On the list in the handwriting of James read only a few things. What would cause a person to do everything backwards, what would make someone's features on their faces switch around, lead feet, constant singing, purple hair, and so on and so forth. The boy studied the list carefully, and then looked up, only to jump up due to the other boy's face inches from his own.

James' face didn't change from the eager excitement he wore, obviously not affected by the odd proximity nor Remus' reaction.

"Well, there does exist a potion for the first one on your list, the backwards one. I think... actually hold on." Remus swiveled in his chair as he recalled the potion in the potions textbook, and pulled it out of his bag for the day. "I'm surprised you haven't used this one actually, as it's in our classbook. Here." He held it out, and James plucked it out of his grasp quickly.

"We are going to need some..." James grimaced here. "Do you think the potion's cupboard has pickled slugs? Or plimpey eyes?"

"Oh... ew? But probably, I'm sure they have just about every disgusting ingredient you can find in there."

"Too true, Moony. Too true." After a moment, James groaned. "Nooo! We need the sopophorous plant, we can't possibly make this potion now!"

The werewolf rested his head in his hands and looked at the book thoughtfully. "Well you mentioned purple hair on your list. Why not just get everyone to overdose on Murtlap Tentacle. Plus it's safe. If they don't overdose, instead they'll just be more resistant to curses and jinxes."

James gasped and looked up at Remus in delight, grabbing his hands and pulling him out of his seat. "Moony I love you! I knew I could count on you, I shall never doubt your skills again, let us go gallop... ah wait..." His face fell and Remus watched his eyebrow crease up. "Isn't that a rare ingredient? How are we going to get so much of it?"

"About a month ago, they found a grove with a lot of murtlap creatures. Had to take some of them into protection due to overpopulation. Harvesting the tentacles didn't hurt them as they grew back quickly, but the backroom is totally overstocked with it now."

James clapped his hands, and his grin grew back twice as big, making Remus smile slightly.

"We have a job to do now, I believe. Let us head out at dusk!"

Laughing, Remus was tugged out of the common room and back into the hallways to get prepared for the prank. He may be a 'goody two shoes', but that didn't mean he wasn't a marauder. He just looked innocent.

Fooled everyone, pretty much.

But as they stepped back out after their brief conference, they bumped into Sirius who stood outside the portrait, posed as if he was planning on pulling it open. His face tensed up as he looked at James, which brought Remus to look at him. His eyes flickered between the two as the tension built, unknown conversations happening without him knowing.

James was the first to speak. "This is stupid. It's obviously just a coincidence Sirius. No need to get pissy with us."

The look on Sirius' face molded into shock and then grew bitter as he hissed a reply. "I'm not wrong."

Remus stood back quietly, trying not to be noticed. _I'm missing something here, aren't I..._

"I think you are, so stop being so paranoid. It's useless."

Sirius scoffed in anger, clenching his fists by his sides. He had no retort however, and Remus observed, and instead whipped around, walking in the opposite direction, but not before spitting out "And I'm not being pissy."

Remus' eyes trailed after the boy in confusion and he heard James sigh. "What was all that about?" _Something about me, I think..._

"Nothing important, Remus, he's just being paranoid over something small, like I said. Come on, I believe we have a bit of work to do. Slytherins or Ravenclaws?"

At the question of who to target, the boy grinned, though it looked a little forced. Remus thought best to just forget about the quick argument that just happened between friends, and focus on what was in front of him, as well as the classes they had to take today.

"We always do Slytherins, why not play it up a bit? Hufflepuffs is more like it."

"Oooh I like your style." James smirked and threw an arm over the boy's shoulder. "I'll never take your lovely ass for granted again."

Remus rolled his eyes, before retorting sarcastically. "Thanks, I feel so honoured."

"Always welcome, always welcome."

The first class of the day was potions, and although the marauder gang hated it, as it was double time with the Slytherins, they were given ample opportunity now to dive headfirst into the cupboard of ingredients.

"Head out at dusk my ass," Remus muttered to himself, smiling.

"What?"

"Ah... nothing. Too early for this right now."

James nodded as they got closer to the dungeons. "I feel you, man. Slimy Slytherins all the way." He held open the door as Remus thanked him.

What greeted the two was a little shocking. Also crowded.

"My boys! It is grand to have you here!"

James and Sirius turned from the small mass of people in the classroom to the booming voice of Slughorn, questions written over their faces.

"Ah, you have noticed some new faces here today. I will explain once everyone is here, now go take your seat." Slughorn laughed happily, waddling over to the group of huddled people Remus had yet to identify. Thankfully, it didn't take long for the rest of the class to enter, and soon they were all seated, waiting for an explanation.

Slughorn walked to the front of the room, dragging his eyes over the students sitting.

"Ah, I have a very exciting announcement to make!" Remus raised his eyebrow and sat back in his seat. Slughorn loved the dramatics, so he gave a good pause.

"Today, as well as for the next week, you will all be paired with a younger student and set to the task of designing your own potion!"

Slughorn grinned at the confused students, and Remus sat up, looking at those from the younger years. His eyes trailed over the group.

"You have all been assigned a partner, and they will now come find you!" Slughorn backed away and motioned the group to move. It took a moment before they started to shuffle towards the rest of the students, and then it was just a mass of confusion. Remus saw feet, and acknowledged the noise level that was very high, and in the middle of all the chaos, didn't notice a pair of crossed arms right in front of him.

He yelped and looked up at the person staring down at him, frowning unhappily.

"You're Lupin, aren't you. Can't say I don't know who you are with all the stupid fuss my brother has made about your lot."

Remus stared quietly.

"My name is Regulus Black. Don't you dare make me fail this, you hear?" Regulus glared down at the werewolf with a sneer, and Remus could only nod.

_Oh, what an interesting project this'll be..._

oooooooooooooooo

_Hope you guys enjoyed this new chapter! If you have any tips or some good ideas on how to improve, got a question, or just wanna send me a message, feel free to! Always happy to get those, after all. (I realize the format of this one is different from the others, I wanted to try something new to make it all flow better, so what do you guys think? Thoughts are put into italics, new 'break lines' because I realized that actual lines don't appear, etc etc. Should I reformat the other chapters to match if you guys like this better?)_

_This 'bout to get interesting mein liebe brochachas... /rubs hands together evilly/_


	4. Chapter 4

We Do Not Fall

Summary: It's sometimes hard to understand Sirius, Remus realizes. Perhaps... well perhaps he hadn't known the boy as much as he thought he had... It obviously showed when lack of communication draws the both of them into an exaggerated fight, only succeeding in hurting them both and their friendship. Oh, Remus would make a thousand wishes to take everything back and fix it up, but he can't change it... not after this... (male/male, rated m for mature scenes and sexual content)

Author's Notes: To the readers who may be slightly confused as to what is happening, why the chaos and the fighting... all in due time, my friends. All in due time. /winks/ For now, let us proceed onto chapter 4.

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

Chapter 4

- Previously -

_"You're Lupin, aren't you. Can't say I don't know who you are with all the stupid fuss my brother has made about your lot."_

_Remus stared quietly._

_"My name is Regulus Black. Don't you dare make me fail this, you hear?" Regulus glared down at the werewolf with a sneer, and Remus could only nod._

_Oh, what an interesting project this'll be..._

" Look, I don't care that you are a Gryffindor, well, I do, as you are all pathetic, but this is a grade I am not willing to give up, understood?" Regulus quietly threatened as Remus shifted in his seat.

"I think you'll find that I'm not as incompetent as you think, Black."

"Right, top of the class are you?"

Remus coughed and turned his head. "Well... no. But I'm not awful at it."

Regulus hummed and relaxed his arms. "In that case, I suppose you'll do." Remus turned his eyes back to the boy who briskly walked away and grabbed a bag off of a nearby table, most likely his own. His hand came out of the sack with a detailed book, black and leather-bound.

He set it in front of Remus, and pushed it closer. "Go on, find a good potion to 'fix'." The boy sarcastically spoke the word, leaning against the table Remus sat at. "Impress me, oh so competent one."

Remus, in turn, cleared his throat and drew his eyes down upon the book. _It's so... detailed. Probably very expensive edition. Nothing less than perfect for the Black family, then? _He grasped the cover lightly and turned to open it to the table of contents, scanning his eyes over vaguely familiar potions. His eyes landed on an extra section that was not listed in his own copy (he double checked it beside him) while Regulus looked over his nails.

"Uh..." Remus hesitated, glancing at the bored looking male, who lazily drew up his head again.

"Found one yet? You sure are taking your time."

He nodded and turned the book silently to face Regulus, pointing at the particular potion towards the bottom of the page in the Extras.

"You want to do this one?" Regulus quirked an eyebrow as he drew the book in hand, looking at the title. "You sure? Might be a little complicated for... someone like you."

Remus scoffed internally, feeling the wolf stir in him at the challenge in Regulus' voice. "I am in no way stupid, I'm sure we can come up with something, yeah?"

Regulus shrugged. "Alright. As you say."

_Well that was easier than I thought it would be... maybe this won't be so bad? Maybe?_

He watched as Regulus sat gingerly down in the seat next to him and stared at the book, and crinkle forming in his brow. "I hope you are aware of the implications that this potion is not in your text. Therefore, we will have to look at other textbooks from the Hogwarts library, or my own, for more information on this." He flipped through the book. "It is not entirely a well used potion, but I suspect the combination of salamander blood and woodlice can be improved from this original source. After all, woodlice is a fairly nonvolatile ingredient, making it so the salamander blood cannot live to its full potential. We would need to find something else to set it off completely."

Remus blinked as the boy rambled on about ingredients, feeling shocked. He jerked back in his seat as the boy suddenly stopped and stared him in the face.

"Well, will we be sitting here the entire time daydreaming or shall we get started?"

"Oh. Oh! Yeah, that would be good," Remus chuckled nervously, his heart beating at the sudden body in front of his, which stood up and neatly tucked the book under his arm.

"Go ask the Professor if we can venture down to the library for more information."

Remus quietly agreed and scrabbled over to the large man who sat at the front desk merrily. He muttered the question quickly, explaining the situation.

"The library, eh?" Slughorn rubbed his chin - _rather double chins, _Remus' brain interjected - and looked thoughtfully. "I suppose that would be rather beneficial to you both. If this works out, I look forward to see what you two bright young minds will come up with!" The man chuckled, jiggling in his seat, and turned to face another questioning student, and leaving Remus to hurry away with a note for the librarian.

Regulus, who waited patiently at the door, nodded to the boy and stepped out, flinging his bag over his shoulder. "By the looks of it, I suppose you want us to actually go to the library."

Remus startled as the boy spoke loudly in the echoing hallway. It had been so quiet for a moment there. "Ah, yeah... That would be good, after all. I admit I don't know much about this particular one, I've just heard about its properties."

Regulus huffed and stared ahead, walking aside the werewolf. Remus watched his face for a reaction, fearing that he might be agitating him (that might lead to an ugly fight, after all) but saw nothing. "Then we've got no time to waste."

Remus' eyes widened as the younger boy picked up his pace, his long strides taking longer steps, and Remus denied in his mind that he was fighting to keep up with the surprisingly fit boy. They soon arrived at the library, and passed the note to the librarian who accepted it with only a brief glance, and shooed them away to the stacks of books.

Perusing them, Remus quickly realized he knew nothing of where to look. "Um... Black?"

The boy groaned quietly and turned around from his spot at an adjacent section. "What is it Lupin."

Remus swallowed and licked his, now dry, lips, opening his mouth to hiss out, "Where exactly should be looking for more information for this potion?"

Regulus froze and stared at Remus intimidatingly, while Remus stared back. It took a few seconds for him to respond, but Remus had to choke down a bit of surprise when he did. "I don't know? Anywhere?"

The two boys continued to look at each other until it got uncomfortable, and the werewolf looked away.

"Well... considering the potion deals with healing specifically the dermis layer of the skin and not the outer layer, perhaps we should look at anatomy books to start with, or Healing books?"

Regulus breathed out in the atmosphere. "Yeah, that's a start I suppose. Perhaps we should narrow that down and look for Healing Potions books though. Older ones, less used and less common. I will send mother a letter for more books on this subject when I arrive back to the Slytherin dormitory."

"Oh... cool..." Remus bit his tongue after speaking. _Cool? What are you, seven? Stupid, you sound stupid!_

But his eyes widened when he heard chuckling from a bookcase over, his head whipping to the side and his mouth opening to an 'o' as he looked at the smiling boy, who shook his head.

"Yeah, 'cool' I guess," Regulus snorted and walked another shelf down, pulling out a book. "Ah! Here take this book." He threw a light book over to Remus who caught it easily and looked at the title.

He murmured it under his breath, "Beginning Healer's Guide to Potions for the Human Body. Sounds good to me."

Regulus called out from nearby, "Well if it's good, go find some of your own for Merlin's sake? We are wasting daylight here."

Flushing quietly, Remus admonished himself. _How in the world did he hear me? It doesn't matter, right, doesn't matter. Gotta find books... All about leeches... The Uses and Practicality of Meal-worms in Potions... Spinal Fractures? Ah!_

Remus yanked out a book titled Potions: The Healer's Edition. "How about this? Will this work?" He held it out for the boy to see, who currently leaned over from across a table on an entirely different bookshelf, and was holding four more books.

"Sure, it's whatever. We need as much information as possible, who knows, Slughorn may choose to assign an essay over this as well."

"Too true." Remus nodded in agreement even though the boy couldn't see, and put it with the other book. He took his time reading the titles and summaries of the next books he looked though, finding old ones and newer ones, and found three more to stack with the rest. When he got to six books, he quietly agreed that, yeah, that was enough, and he shuffled over to a nearby table to set them down and call Regulus over.

Regulus, who heard him, walked slowly over, balancing two stacks of four books in each hand. "I found a really good one that I skimmed through, that I know has the one we're looking for. It's the big one." He dropped them on the table and drew out his wand from his cloak and cast a silencing spell. He dropped that as well on the table, rubbing his wrists. "I was never particularly fond of carrying heavy things, that is for one."

Remus watched as the boy grimaced down at his hands and cracked them. "Mmm. Much better. Let's get started now, there's a lot to look through."

Humming in agreement, the werewolf took his seat at the wooden table, and picked up the first one of his pile. "Well, at least we don't have to look super into it yet, right? Right now we are just looking if these books even have the right information. It's not like we have to study it immediately." Remus' voice trailed off towards the end of his quick comment, waiting for the boy's reaction.

"You're right. I may be a top student, but I'm not going to be a study freak quite yet. Start off easy, dig deep later then, yeah?" Regulus smirked down at the book he pulled down, cracking it open and scanning it, and Remus quickly followed suit.

ooooooooo

Haziness came a little later, causing the both of them to find themselves stretching their backs and cracking their knuckled in order to get rid of the fog in their brains that always came with too much reading.

The werewolf yawned, covering his mouth with his hand.

"Okay, I'm done."

Remus jerked slightly, and looked up from the blurring words.

Regulus sighed, rubbing his face from his spot. "I really can't look at these books anymore, as I can't possibly retain any more information. I at least found... five of the eight I pulled out originally have information on the Dermis Draught of Anthea. Three other books I pulled have more information on the creator, Anthea Drewmare, but it's pretty neutral when it comes to her potion-creating. What about you? Are we at a good stopping point for today?"

Remus leaned back in his chair and raised his arms, feeling faint pops in his spine. "All six of mine have some information on an older version of the Draught, but it's not too much. The best one I've looked through was the Potions: The Healer's Edition, which has the same ingredients as the one in your text. So yeah, good stopping point for tonight." The heaviness in his brain lifted a little as he spoke, and he found his eyes drawn to the windows of the library. "Oh. It's dark out."

It didn't surprise him much, they had been there for a while.

Regulus hummed. "So it is."

Remus listened as the boy packed away his things softly, the clinking of quills and glass capsules of ink happening against each other. As it quieted up, he looked back up to the standing boy, who stared down at him curiously.

"Considering you are a despicable Gryffindor, don't let this get to your head, but perhaps this won't be as bad as I thought." Remus felt something in his chest shift as he looked at the boy who laughed quietly at him. _It's wasn't fake... A sincere laugh came out of Regulus' mouth? He is rather handsome when he isn't frowning or looking harshly upon someone else... _

Remus coughed, feeling his face warm, and he yelled at himself. _Where did that come from?! Shit._

"Considering you are a slimy Slytherin, I suppose you shouldn't let it get to your head either, but this may actually be interesting, being partnered with you." Remus grinned despite his inner thoughts which rang like mini alarm bells in his mind.

"Fair enough. Should we find a time to work together here again? I reckon that neither I nor you will be accepted in the opposite dorms."

Remus hadn't thought about that. They would have to find a time to partner up again. After all, not all work could be done inside the classroom. "Yeah."

The two boys walked out of the library, digging through their bags for their schedules and finding a corner of the halls to stand in. When they drew them out, they shuffled a step closer and compared the papers side by side.

"What do you think? I have Transfiguration on Tuesdays in the afternoon, and normally have an extreme amount of homework to do during those night, and on Wednesdays and Thursdays I have four classes so I don't want to focus on another project during those fully days. Friday I just have Charms and then Potions, like today, so perhaps just on these days? You don't have other classes tonight, correct?" Regulus looked up from studying the sheets, and drew his eyes towards Remus, who felt a little shaken as he realized the boy was only inches away and didn't seem to mind the physical closeness.

His mouth open and closed as his mind stayed blank for a moment or two, until he shook his head. "No, no other classes other than my Runes class in the morning and Potions with you. Any other day would be pretty busy, as I have an almost full schedule."

Regulus snorted. "Workaholic, then, I take it."

Remus pretended to look vaguely offended. "I happen to be just very diligent and smart! I enjoy a challenge," Remus spoke clearly, smirking at the younger boy, who raised an eyebrow and grinned back.

Then, Remus' heart stuttered faintly as the boy leaned closer, his grin widening to an almost predatory one. He spoke softly inches from Remus' face. "Well then I'll be a particularly _hard _challenge for you, Lupin." He blew Remus' name in his face, teasing.

On the outside, the werewolf just looked a a bit shocked, but inside... inside he was freaking out. His fingers twitched as his heart pounded and he suddenly felt very hot and _very aware _of just how close the other was.

The boy didn't move either, instead, just studied the werewolf's face for a reaction, and the moment grew into something else, something far more intense and so very different a feel than the teasing before.

But it broke with a crash. Both heads whipped around to face the end of the corridor.

Still empty.

Remus turned to look back at the boy beside him, noticing the moment gone, and was silently glad for it. _I don't think I could have taken another moment of that... too weird..._

Then he noticed Regulus' expression. It was twisted in confusion, and suspicion, and the boy tilted his head slightly to speak to Remus but never tore his eyes away. He spoke in a quiet tone underneath his breath, which Remus had to strain to hear. "Someone has been following us for a while. They weren't being violent so I hadn't thought anything of it, but, something... changed..." Regulus hissed the end of the sentence, turning around to completely face Remus and grabbed his wrist. "Come on, let's move. I don't feel comfortable here."

Remus glanced down the hall as he was pulled away. _Someone was following them? Oh god! They saw that... thing that just happened, oh god what would they think? _As he was panicking slightly, the other boy pulled him down another corridor, and he realized it was most likely closer to the Slytherin dormitory. _Wait why are we going here? Haven't we figured out the plans already?_

Remus almost asked the question, but Regulus stopped suddenly and flung him around, so he stumbled to right himself, the necklace bouncing and hitting his collarbone heavily.

_Ouch..._He rubbed at his collar slightly, fiddling so the necklace sat comfortably underneath his shirt again. What he didn't notice was the fact that Regulus had been staring down the hall, and then had looked back at Remus, seeing him rub his collar.

Remus, though, saw Regulus staring unabashidly at his neck, and he flushed slightly, smoothing his shirt.

He cleared his throat quietly, and then Regulus broke out in a harsh voice. "You bein' fucked by a pureblood, then?"

Remus choked, "W-What?!"

Regulus snickered loudly, covering his mouth as it broke out into laughter. "Figures! You'd like it up the ass, wouldn't you pretty-boy?" He wiped his cheek at an invisible tear, and Remus froze as the boy's hand found it's way to his neck and caressed the necklace.

He almost asked, through the confusion, what in the world Black was talking about, but a loud fuming yell sounded.

Once again, two heads whipped to face the open hallway, this time no longer empty, but housing a very angry Sirius Black.

Regulus, his grin twisting into a hard smirk, didn't bother to lower his voice as he spoke, "Oh, so your little lion friends don't know, do they?"

Remus tried to get a word in, but his mind raced as he tried to figure out what to say. In the mean time, Sirius had found his way to the two of them, pushing Remus violently aside so his back hit stone wall, and grappled at his brother's cloak.

"I'm gonna KILL YOU I SWEAR!" Sirius barked loudly in the younger boy's face, who simply took on a bored expression and stood limply, but this only seemed to make Sirius more angry.

"Swear on what, your parents? Oh wait, that's right. You're disowned so you don't have parents." The boy spoke with venom, still bearing a bored face, but spit out the words to hurt.

They hit Sirius, who slammed the boy into the wall behind him, but he had no retort, so he bared his teeth, grinding them as his eyes flashed down at the boy.

Regulus, who stared at the him panting, simply drew the wand from his cloak and cast a quick spell that shot Sirius back. "This is dull. No point in talking to worthless lives when I could be working hard." On a last minute though, the boy dragged out the word, his eyes catching on Remus' wide ones, and he his grin came back full force. He took the shocked moment and used it to slip away, into the Slytherin dorm that, as Remus suspected, was not too far away.

"And YOU!" Remus' eyes retracted from the closed portrait, and fell on the looming figure of Sirius drawing closer to him. _Oh merlin he looks angry..._Remus swallowed, feeling for once in his life, very afraid of his friend.

"You... you..." Sirius jabbed a finger in Remus' chest before his mouth twisted into a disgusted sneer. "I heard what he said, don't deny it!"

Remus' brow furrowed, and he tried to speak calmly and quietly. "Which part?"

This only seemed to make it worse however, as Sirius bristled and took a step back, but looked no more calmer than before. "You're disgusting!"

Remus felt the breath leave his body. _Wait... what? Why is Sirius...? _

"You FREAK! Don't touch me!"

The words hit Remus like a brick to the chest, and it suddenly hurt. _Freak?_ "What?"

He gaped at his friend, whose fists clenched and bared his teeth now at Remus.

_Freak...?_

ooooooooooo

_And this is this chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed vuv I tried to make it longer because of the awfully long amount of time I had between updates. I'm sorry about that as well! College came up, and I'm still adjusting to the move as well as the work and environment, so it's quite a bit different for me, living-wise. But I hope I made up for it, and as always, leave a review if you like, as I always enjoy reading your guys' thoughts and suggestions, and I hope to talk again soon!_

_-neongreenleaves_


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